The TV shows I watched growing up will always have a special place in my heart and one of these is Charmed, the iconic fantasy drama revolving around the lives of three sister witches, the ‘Charmed Ones’, who tackle demons, warlocks, and the dating scene a decade before the invention of Tinder.

From the 90s fashion (these gals were sporting chokers when Kendall Jenner was still in babygrows) to the catchy soundtrack, I struggle to think of any show as bewitching, entertaining, and endearing as Charmed. It’s been almost 13 years since the final episode aired but that doesn’t make it any less relevant or entertaining in my eyes. If I happen to stumble upon an episode whilst flicking through the channels, I can kiss goodbye to my work for the next 40 minutes, and a Charmed mug is still nestled in my kitchen cupboard. However, in January, the CW, the US TV network behind the original series, announced that a reboot of Charmed is in the works which begs the question – can a reboot ever live up to the original?

My immediate response is no, never. There were so many unique ingredients that made the Charmed potion the roaring success that it was, and I vehemently doubt that any reboot could cast such a spell on its audience. What really ruffles my broomstick is that the CW has described the reboot as “fierce, funny, and feminist” which is nothing short of absurd. The original series was the definition of “fierce, funny, and feminist”. Until being usurped by Desperate Housewives in 2012, it was the longest-running TV show ever to feature an all-female lead cast and it projected a positive message to a generation of girls about independence, sisterhood, and girl power.

It was a magical portrayal of female relationships

The source of the witches’ powers was their sisterly bond, giving them the “Power of Three”, without which their powers were considerably weaker, highlighted in an episode which sees the sister witches completely lose their magic after using it against each other. It was a magical portrayal of female relationships; they not only loved each other but quite literally powered each other on, and I struggle to think of a better metaphor for strong women supporting strong women (may we know them, may we be them, may we watch them vanquish demons on TV).

On a more sartorial note, unlike other world-saving women in TV, Charmed’s Halliwell sisters didn’t sacrifice a morsel of femininity in their fight against evil. Each episode saw them getting down and dirty with demons and warlocks, but the risk of a little demon ichor didn’t stop them giving the Sex and the City fashionistas a run for their money with their kitten heels and lashings of lip gloss. Thus, they showed all female viewers that being a strong woman doesn’t mean toning down your feminine side (and gave everyone a lesson in how to rock a halter neck).

Not only did they have electric chemistry, these actresses each brought something special to the characters

Another aspect that gave Charmed the magic touch was its stars, who I believe are irreplaceable. Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs portrayed sisters Prue, Phoebe, and Piper in the first three seasons, and Rose McGowan joined the cast in the fourth season as quirky Paige, replacing Doherty. Not only did they have electric chemistry, these actresses each brought something special to the characters; they were wildly different but equally lovable, hilarious, and, well, charming. They left the male stars in the (Book of) Shadows and I can’t see how any actresses could fill their designer boots.

Lastly, Charmed was entertaining in an often light-hearted, and sometimes-cheesy, way. Its story-a-week format allowed for a plethora of novelty episodes, from travelling back to the 1960s via a pair of crimson go-go boots to Phoebe becoming a mermaid, nobody could ever accuse the show of being boring and these wacky stories prevented it from becoming too moody, a gloomy path that many supernatural dramas take nowadays. I fear that the reboot will be too dark and angsty, subduing the fun spirit of the original series.

However, despite my hardcore Wiccan-like worship of the original Charmed, I’ll still be tuning in when the reboot airs and I hope that I will be proven wrong. Its cast is more diverse which is obviously a good thing, and I hope that this modernity, alongside a touch of the traditional Charmed magic, will cast a spell for success that bewitches the world all over again.

Comments (31)

You lame, self absorbed, unable to move on from your past, ignorant and inadequent journalist, b##ch. How dare you try and say ‘we’ don’t need a Charmed reboot. First of all speak for yourself and a MINORITY of delusional ‘fans’ (you don’t even deserve to be called ones) the reboot has been cast, the pilot has been shot, and there is nothing that your moldy little depressing, self loathing soul can do about it. You are no different from a criminal trying to slander real people who have been given an opportunity as their profession to provide entertainment for millions of people across the world. And YOU think, because you personally for some god forbidden delusional reason that the show should not be rebooted, that it needs to be ruined for the rest of us? How selfish are you. I hope your parents are ashamed of the low life scum woman that you have grown into. Cecily you should be ASHMED of yourself. ‘However I will still be tuning in’ that right there, is exactly what you and ALL the ‘loser fans’ of Charmed who attempted to threat the reboot will be doing ANYWAY! (Idiots) and you are all actually so delusional you’ve somehow missed the media reports showing that the OLD (literally old) cast DO NOT LIKE EACHOTHER. They are no longer FRIENDS let alone on screen sisters!!! Some Charmed ‘fan’ you are *rolls eyes* anyway, Cecillna please don’t even bother watching the reboot. You’re not welcome, you’re not a real fan. You are a hater and delusional. Do some good and reframe from sharing your opinion again, thank you.

Looks like you’ve angered someone who claims to be a fan, Cecily. But don’t take that person’s comment to heart at all. That “fan” clearly isn’t stable and seems to not understand that people that loved the old show just aren’t going to love the new show too, especially considering the reboot has already started off on a bad foot by implying the original show didn’t showcase feminism or the fight against patriarchy. Besides that, the reboot isn’t even about the Halliwells nor the Warren witches so it should not be called Charmed. Just give it a new name. I honestly can’t see this show making it past a pilot order considering majority of the original show’s fanbase is against the reboot while only a literal small minority want to watch it.

I do hate to say this, but I doubt we’ll ever get a reunion or continuation of the original show mainly due to the four main actresses feuding with each other (Shannen VS Holly and Alyssa VS Rose). It’s sad because there were talks about a reunion when they were all friends, but now it hasn’t been discussed.

A guy could hope that they’ll reunite and collaborate for a reunion though right?

As the second commenter said the majority of fans did not want or ask for this reboot however I do think a continuation of the original series with the original cast is possible ans each actress has said they would be open to doing it. Unlike the author I won’t be turning in I and it’s a big if this reboot is ordered to series which I highly doubt it will be and eve if it is it’s not going to as Charming as Charmed.

If the original Charmed taught us anything it is that everything happens for a reason. The reboot too has a reason. Let the next generation come to love something just as we fell in love with the original.

The first comment makes some valid points though, you all seem to be holding onto a dying hope that the old actresses would continue the show as young sisters fighting powerful demons when the truth is these actresses have all moved on, aged and are feuding.

As the first commentor stated, why can’t you love the old Charmed for what it was, and accept the new Charmed for what it’s about to be?

Let’s be realistic. If some fan’s have waited more than a decade for a ‘new’ type of Charmed, and a future generation who are about to reach their teens, why ruin it for them? Are your own negative thoughts not almost ruining something potentially great for everybody else? Think about what you are saying. It’s selfish. Learn to love not hate. Some of us want a direct Charmed reboot, and it’s already had a pilot shot. Just give up.

Having stumbled across this most well written UK TV article, and reading it thoroughly, I found myself agreeing with everything Cecily has written (Phoebe Halliwell at the Bay Mirror couldn’t have written it better herself).

YES…. I loved the first Charmed, and YES, I am very much looking forward to the reboot and sincerely hope it captures the magic of the original, as it appears Cecily hopes herself.

OMG… On reading the previous comments on this article I came across one from “A Real Charmed Fan”. What a disgusting human being he or she must be to leave nasty personal comments including ones about Cecily’s family on a public posting. This person is “No Real Charmed Fan”. Additionally, he or she must be a semi-illiterate / stupid / backwards / moron as they do not seem to understand Cecily’s article…. at no point does she criticise the reboot, she merely looks at the original with fondness.

If “A Real Charmed Fan” is reading this, or perhaps has someone reading it to them, I suggest they stop this vile trolling behaviour, you are giving real Charmed fans a bad name and we want to disassociate ourselves from weirdos like you.

Well done to the lovely Cecily for an exquisite, concise and thoroughly pleasant article. May I wish you and your family all the very best from the home of Charmed – San Francisco USA xx

Reading the article and the comments, it’s pretty ridiculous how people have seem to forgotten that while everyone has their own opinion, majority of the fan base do not want a reboot of this kind. Literally only a small amount are tuning into the reboot. It’s not selfish nor wrong for us to voice how much this reboot isn’t right. Maybe a continuation featuring one of the sister’s kids or something still connected to the Halliwells and the Warrens would be better since that’s Charmed. Sure, it’d be cool to have the new generation have three young women with powers to look up to again but the reality is not many people will tune in and no one really wants this to air.

There is nothing more funny than seeing Cecily personally argue back at comments towards her atroucious article. Professionalism at its best.

It’s clear to see by her writing styling and referencing herself as some sort of article queen (nothing more than an amature child) that she was highly offended by my reply.

Oh well, shouldn’t have written a stupid article then. At the end of the day, Charmed IS coming back, SO you and all the ‘anti Charmed reboot fans who ain’t gonna watch but still gonna watch it’ have lost.

That first commented who returned is clearly insane because he/she is probably one of the few who will watch this reboot. Only the pilot has filmed and we doubt the show will be green lit for a season. ??‍♂️

Well done Jerry for posting a bit of common sense, how very right you are.
The first commentator is obviously a crazy individual. How sad it is that there are people in this world who enjoy posting horrible comments.
It’s just a TV show, we all have likes and dislikes, why can’t people accept this without annonomously abusing people.
My feeling is that the first commentator is either involved in the reboot or God forbid knows Cecily in someway (perhaps a x boyfriend?) and is using the internet to try and upset her. Little does he realise he is just making himself look like a crazy fool!!!!

When did you ever see a remake of a film that was better than the original?
When did you ever hear a cover of a song that was better than the original?
The Charmed reboot will be just the same, a pale imitation of the original, being spewed out to capitalise on the Charmed name. It will never make it beyond the pilot!

I’m an old Charmed fan and I’m willing to give the reboot a chance. You act like Charmed is so original when it’s really not. Do u remember The Craft. I sure do. If it was not for The Craft there would be no Charmed. What kills me is, you show a picture with Alyssa,Holly and Rose. But where is Shannon picture. Rose is not an original member. Some of them don’t follow each other on Twitter and Instagram. I did have a problem with them saying the show was not feminist. Which it was till they start wearing tight clothing. I want see how WOC will do as Charmed ones. O’ they did used the song that was in The Craft as Charmed opening song. So, how about you do a story on how The Craft payed the way for Charmed. You are welcome by the way.

Ha ha ha. You sad little person. I hope you die a slow and painful death. If you are so big and brave why not post your name, address and number so we all know who you are? Or will you continue to hide like the looser you are?

Yikes, some of the pro reboot fans are insane, especially considering, well, a majority of the fanbase is NOT happy about the reboot and are pretty vocal about it. We didn’t like the previous attempts and don’t like this one either, nothing new. (I have to wonder if CW will ever get it through their heads that what fans actually want is the next generation spin-off.) It’s the minority of fans that want this, guys, did you somehow miss that?

But seriously, the more information is released, the more disgusting this thing gets. The fact that they called the LGBT sister’s sexuality a twist isn’t cool and neither is the fact that they described as literally nothing but the angry, violent lesbian feminist stereotype. Add in Ser’Darius Blain’s disgusting ableist comments and the fact that the pilot’s demon is a sexual harasser disguised as a professor and it was described as being “fun and contemporary with its social observations” by the producer, it’s honestly not something I understand why people want to support. That’s not even getting into how the network treated the original show, only to turn around now and milk it for cash. Or how about the CW’s treatment of LGBT, POC, or women on shows like Supernatural (constantly brutally killing off their LGBT, POC, or female characters to further straight white guy characters’ arcs) or Riverdale (a lot of their sexualizing teenage characters, disturbing characterization of LGBT characters, and a literal conversion camp storyline)? The idea that this reboot will be progressive or feminist at all, and especially in comparison to the original, is odd, considering every piece of information released thus far, the actors’ own comments, and the network itself.

It’s disgusting that you’d even try to ruin a potentially amazing show that’s about to come out, that’s using the basis of a show that YOU used to love and can’t get over. Haven’t you heard of imitation is the greatest form of flattery?

It does not matter what type of story line the producers gave the spin off, you’d still find a ANY reason to be against it. That’s called being ‘biast’ because you didn’t get what you want. Morons.

FURTHERMORE, once the shows released and it gains its mass fan base, you WILL BE THE MINORITY of sad little anti Charmed haters, who are secretly tuning in lol!!

Wow, witches stop with the arguing let those that don’t want the reboot be and those that remember the original too. I love the original and in my opinion I’m not going to watch the reboot but that doesn’t make me less of a fan of charmed one got to love the original to begin to love the new. If you might know you guys/girls are being no different the actress that where the main characters. Let this girl voice her opinions but don’t attack her. It mess up, bless be and Later!

Writing articles and sending letters to the WB network pleading for them to not go ahead with a reboot is hatred.

You are attempting to take away someone else’s entertainment and essentially jobs from people’s professions (actors, writers, producers ect)

This was taken way further than ‘an opinion’ trying to use ANY excuse for the show to fail.

And of course smelly old Holli Marie Combs is not happy with a reboot, she’s not going to be profiting any money from it and her time is done. She never created the show, she didn’t own ‘Charmed’ she was cast as a lead actress, that doesn’t give her the rights to anything. She’s just bitter that her time is up and her boobs are sagging to her ankles.

Guys this is Alyssa. Please don’t fight. Let’s support the new Charmed, we have to be honest and realize that none of us old actresses are coming back. I want to give this new show a chance. Rose McGowan is scary these days and I would never want to work with her again. Peace and love, Alyssa.